It is scientifically impossible to multitask; when people try they face an average of 40% drop in efficiency, according to the Harvard Business Review. Students are wasting time when trying to listen to music and study. As finals approach, students should not be studying with music as it will result in inefficient studying.

According to NPR, “For the most part, we simply can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. What we can do, he said, is shift our focus from one thing to the next with astonishing speed.”

The back-and-forth between focusing on music and work is mentally tiring and wastes time. If tasks are done one-at-a-time, the sense of accomplishment of finishing a task will increase motivation and the work will be done more efficiently.

“Listening to music is not an effective way to study because it distracts from doing work, and if you try listening to music, you end up either listening to the music, or doing work, and not doing both,” sophomore Nicholas Delianedis said.

Music is not only a cause to “multitask,” but is also a distraction from work. When listening to music on a phone, it is easy to be pulled into being using the phone instead of working which causes productivity to drop and affects the quality of work done.

“I just don’t see how something else going on in the background, going into your ear, can make it better for you to focus on what is in front of you, and I personally am someone where I can’t focus, I need complete silence,” literary and language arts teacher Doris Schlothan said.